Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

I can't tell you sorry

Its like that editted Mig21 with LTTE beside it :-)

Should be possible for 23mm cannon (and even larger calibre weapons), to be fired manually. 'Auto' feature will come in to the picture, when you want 'gun-aiming' and 'firing' co-ordinated through a computer .. anyway, that is my understanding of the subject

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I see your point Mr.Saervek, and you have indeed raised some very interesting points.

What you need to think about is what will be the exact mission requirement for the SLAF post the Thamil Tiger insurgency. Taking into consideration the geographical location of your island nation - Sri Lanka really has no foreign enemies.

It is highly unlikely that India will be a threat to Sri Lanka. Hypothetically even if they were, the SLAF unfortunately is no match for the IAF. As a result achieving air-superiority is meaningless. What the SLAF needs is a capable Multi-Role aircraft.

The reason I recommend the JF-17/FC-1 was not based entirely on the aircrafts combat capabilities; i also took into consideration the fact that this airframe is likely to be in widespread use with the Air forces of 3 countries that have very good relations with Sri Lanka - China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This geographical distribution greatly simplifies the SLAF's spare parts/support + servicing and training needs on any new in-service type. This as I explained earlier forms a bulk of the operating cost of any operational combat aircraft.

The MiG-29C or MiG-29S, the basic Fulcrum export variant, is an excellent aircraft. The aircraft should be available for around $7-9 million. Upgrading the Fulcrum-C to the Fulcrum-SMT or even Fulcrum-SM standard will cost an additional $5-8 million. Which brings the aircraft into the $10-15 million bracket of the FC-1. Taking into account that India will be the only operator of a similar Fulcrum variant - Bangladeshi Fulcrums will be phased out - should the SLAF choose an aircraft that will be harder to support and maintain.

Any questions about the FC-1's design and maintenance needs appear to be well explained on the following site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JF-17_Thunder

In reply to your point - yes i believe the FC-1 should be considerably less maintenance intensive, about 1/4 less. However it is hard to give an accurate assessment until the aircraft see's operational service.



None of these guns have an inbuilt radar capability for detection or targeting. They are all manually operated units.

I believe given the threat - the ZSU-23-2, 40mm and 94mm anti-aircraft artillery guns are an adequate response to this threat. The threat is from piston engined aircraft, not fast jets .. you don't need a unit as complex as the ZSU-23-4 SHILKA for this..

The mobile ZSU-23-4 SHILKA is an attractive offer .. however the Sri Lankan military I believe has sufficient assets that fulfil the ground fire-support role.



The SLAF initially planned to acquire 3 x C-130K's from the UK - Surplus RAF air-to-air refuelling tankers.

CR880 and CR881 were the 2 initial aircraft delivered to the SLAF in 2000. CR882 was still in the UK being retrieved from storage at the Marshall Aerospace engineering complex in Cambridge, England getting readied to be overhauled.

However during the preceding months of that year - most likely due to financial constraints - the order for CR882 was cancelled.

The SLAF approached the UK MOD in 2005 again for this same aircraft .. however negotiations eventually fell through after a couple of months.



Depends on which aircraft type your talking about..

If it's the F-7 - then yes I believe the facility does everything by themselves, from stripping the aircraft right down to parts manufacture - apart from some parts which are sourced from China - and assembly. The US has no involvement whatsoever at any level in this process.

I've been told the F-7 airframe has a TBO (time before overhaul) of roughly 800 flight hrs before being sent for a depot level overhaul, and the engine has a life of around 200 hrs before it needs to be completely stripped down. Airframe overhaul roughly takes 30 weeks, which includes completely stripping the aircraft down for a workshop-level inspection and repair of its components.

However PAF F-16's are overhauled - Depot Level - In the US.



The RollsRoyce AE2100 turbo-prop is a more powerful engine compared to the T56-A-15 on the original C-130K. The wing on the C-130J is however the same as the one on the C-130K, therefore the wing should be strong enough to handle the additional dynamic loads due to the increase in thrust. So yes, theoretically the C-130K can be re-engined with the RollsRoyce AE2100.

However the engine management system is completely different for the AE2100, and as a result the C-130K avionics suite will have to incorporate the associated software upgrades which runs in parallel to upgrades to the flight instrumentation on the aircraft.



As far as I know - even though initial reports indicated that the aircraft will be supplied free of charge, there is a small cost associated with this deal. Negotiations over this are still ongoing, however the aircraft type in question is still available and will most likely still be handed over to the SLAF - I will try and find out some more about this on a later date.



When the F-7BS entered SLAF service in 1991 the service only had a handful of pilots that could actually operate this aircraft.

The F-7BS was never meant to be a genuine ground attack aircraft. Its primary mission was air-combat with a very limited secondary ground attack capability using unguided munitions.

The straight delta is a poor wing design for a ground attack aircraft, especially if your expected to fly at low altitude and fast to achieve the necessary accuracy when using unguided munitions. The buffet characteristics, and a notorious habit of the aircraft suffering flutter at low-altitudes/high speed - operating right at the edge of the aircrafts flight envelope - made the ride for the pilot extremely difficult and the task of engaging ground targets that much more difficult. In addition to the poor design, the offensive avionics on the F-7BS were also poor. The aircraft lacked a radar and had a rather simple ballistic optical gunsight.

The result was horrendous accuracy in most ground attack missions. The SLAF got considerable flak during this period for poor target selection and accuracy of strikes as civilian casualties were high.

This coupled with the SLAF's inability to properly service and maintain the aircraft because of a poor spare part supply/support network, in addition to the fact that the aircraft were ill suited for the type of missions being flown and operating terrain - which placed a high burden on the airframe and engines - made most of the F-7BS fleet not-airworthy a majority of the time.

I believe as a result of these operational experiences this aircraft type was never included in future SLAF fleet expansion plans.

However the FT-7PG is a different class of aircraft when compared to the F-7BS.

For starters it has a slightly better wing than the F-7BS - based on the F-7M wing - which has dramatically improved the aircrafts low-level handling qualities. The aircraft has a slightly better engine in the WP-7B(BM) compared to the WP-7B. These physical changes coupled with a quantum leap in improvement in the capabilities of the avionics/offensive + defensive systems, over the F-7BS, makes the FT-7PG a superior low-altitude performer.



Although the SLAF is know to have 8 active operational single-seat Kfir aircraft (6 x C.2 and 2 x C.7) and 2 x Kfir TC.2's. Only about 1/3 of the single-seaters are combat ready on any given day. The other aircraft are at different levels of repair/overhaul. As a result when there have been occasions the SLAF required 3 or 4 aircraft for a single sortie, the TC.2 was used due to a lack of serviceable single-seaters.

This weapon is still available for export if the SLN wishes to acquire it..

It would appear the delays are due more to politics than anything else.



They were flown by SLAF pilots as far as I know..

They are indeed combat ready.



I am aware of certain details about this exercise .. however, I am reluctant to reveal what I know to this blogging site.

I cannot reveal any policy decisions taken by our military or my Government on this site. I'll let our embassy in Sri Lanka officially announce anything regarding this issue.

All I can say is that the exercise is still on the cards and, it was not rescheduled as a result of the attack on the Naval base at GALLE as reported in the media in your country.. from what I know, there were other tactical/operational reasons.

The date of the Exercise is irrelevant to members in this forum.

My mistake .. I apologise for making that assumption :o)

Still .. you said he was a Technical advisor at the L'vov facility - what is his field of experience if you don't mind me asking?

On paper - these are the current aircraft types in the 2nd Squadron with the SLAF:

C-130K -- CR880 -- Active
C-130K -- CR881 -- Spares aircraft

An-32B -- CR860 -- Active
An-32B -- CR863 -- Active
An-32B -- CR864 -- Active
An-32B -- CR866 -- Active
An-32B -- CR867 -- Active
An-32B -- CR868 -- Active
An-32B -- CR869 -- Active

BAe-748 -- CR830 -- Stored
BAe-748 -- CR833 -- Stored

The heavy lift capability is indeed quite dire .. hopefully things should improve in this department of the SLAF by the middle/end of this year.

Although your heavy lift capability is limited, your medium left capability is still quite strong. This should be sufficient to maintain the needs of your Northern forces at this current phase.

If the conflict spreads to this region - as long as the airbase is free from attack - i believe the SLAF should still be theoretically able to sustain its forces with the current assets.

The situation will definitively be a lot more comfortable for the 2nd Squadron if CR881 is active.. lets wait and see.

The MiG's will be used .. be patient Sir :o)

Aerial operations in the eastern sector of Sri Lanka MIGHT see some limited MiG-27D operations in the coming months - I must stress that they will be limited.

The HIND's will see more action.. enjoy the results



As I informed the forum the use of FAE's will see more widespread use in the Northern theatre if the conflict does spread that far. It is indeed a very good ploy to use this weapon on certain targets :o)

The MiG-27D is best suited for this role because you need to get quite low and be doing it at speed.

The AT-6A and S-8D can indeed be carried by the Mi-24/Mi35 HIND, however it is unlikely the HIND will be used in the Northern theatre for this role.

The MiG-27D however cannot use the AT-6A anti-tank missile, but it can carry the S-8D.



Whether this may or may not be the aircraft I was talking about is irrelevant .. this is a good aircraft, don't be disappointed .. it has been selected for a particular mission type which the SLAF appears to believe it needs a capability for.

There is a reason for everything - lets wait and see how this development pans out..

The BEECH 200's wont be flying just as of yet.

I will try and let the forum know when these aircraft come back into service.

As I have said on a separate occasion:



Well it appears someone in this forum is linked to this website..

I was told CH630 was armed with 4 x B-8V-20 pods and CH636 was armed with 2 x B-8V-20 and 2 x UPK-23-250 pods. The targets were engaged using S-8 rockets and later fired upon using the GSh-23L twin-barrel 23 mm gun in the UPK-23-250 pod.